Absolum review: "Classic beat 'em up systems pair beautifully with a run-based structure in this fleet-footed, wonderfully varied Hades-like"

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Guard Crush Games as it was applying the finishing touches to Absolum and out of nowhere came Hades 2's release date. Here, after all, is a run-based game in which the player battles through challenging environments filled with fantastical enemies, choosing between otherworldly boons to enhance physical attributes and magical powers – and, when they inevitably fall, spending the resources they've banked to boost their chances of success on the next attempt. It augments its thumpingly intense action with rich, characterful comic-book art and a driving, high-tempo audio score. And at the end of your journey, you face an enemy who can control the flow of time.

So yes, there are a few familiar ingredients here. But Absolum stands apart from the crop of Hades-likes that arrived in the wake of Supergiant's original, not to mention its successor. The idea of combining a classic scrolling beat 'em up with Roguelite elements isn't without precedent: in this case, it spawned from the survival mode in the Mr. X Nightmare DLC for Streets of Rage 4. Joining forces again, Dotemu and Guard Crush (with animation house Supamonks) have built smartly upon the foundations of that already captivating add-on.

Scrap mettle

Its story keeps things simple: a cataclysm has occurred in the land of Talamh, and a guy called Azra the Conqueror has… well, you shouldn't need a second guess with that name. It's the barest of motivations to get out there and hit things. Doing the early thumping are Galandra, a dark elf/knight hybrid who's your archetypal all-rounder, and Karl, a sturdy dwarf whose gun compensates somewhat for his lack of melee range. An array of enemies animal, humanoid, and robotic line up to have their faces, beaks, and shells smashed in by classic face-button combos. These steadily fill a mana gauge that lets you trigger a special attack or – later on – two.

Elevating the basics of combat, which is as impactful yet responsive as you'd expect from the talent involved, is a parry system of sorts (since every game has to have one these days). Jab the rightmost face button and you'll deflect the majority of incoming attacks, be they projectile, blade or writhing appendage. The window seems generous – which is only fair since enemies aren't, often attacking from both sides at once. Beyond making you look cool, a successful deflect leaves opponents vulnerable to punishing follow-ups. And if you're averse to parrying, or can't quite get the timing down, you can dodge instead, pushing up or down with deflect to sidestep blows and bullets.

Even with all that in your locker – and more besides, including a broad range of throwables – you'll probably be humbled by the first boss at least once. But with the crystals you've pocketed along the way, you can pay for abilities that mean you start your next run that bit stronger. And before long you'll be able to harness the power of different types of magic, further diversifying the range of builds and synergies. Even in your first few runs you'll discover a few favorites: to finish off the big fella in the opening area I render him helpless by trapping him inside a large bubble before juggling him against the side of the screen. Later, with a boon (sorry, ritual) granting me three thorned projectiles for every deflect, and with a 60 percent increase to damage on throwables – boosted still further by a range multiplier – I breeze through a normally tricky fight in seconds.

Route cause

And it's not just new combat tools that freshen up each attempt. Help rebuild a broken bridge on one run and you can take a different route on the next. In one encounter you'll punt enemies into a furnace to stoke its flames; it might take a couple of runs to fuel it fully, but it's worth doing to unlock yet another path. Cross the ocean on a pirate ship and you might unexpectedly alight on a new shore, giving you the option to sail there next time. Since it'll be a while until you're strong enough to face, let alone beat, the final boss, you can focus instead on completing smaller quests. In a region shrouded in eerie mist, for instance, you won't know which of the forking paths to take – but next time you might just pick up a navigational tip to reach its heart.

So while it might be hard to care much about the story (even if the notion of an authoritarian force denying ordinary folk their rights is unexpectedly timely) there are loads of hooks to incentivize repeat runs. You will, almost without fail, see something new on every go-around – and by the time you've recruited masked bandit Cider (delicate but wonderfully agile) and frog mage Brome (rides his staff like a hoverboard) you've got an embarrassment of offensive riches to suit all tastes. If Absolum doesn't entirely address the genre's historical shortcomings – as ever, you can't always tell whether your character is aligned with an enemy, and you will, albeit rarely, be hit from off screen – it gives you ways to mitigate those issues. Not least with an Assist mode that lets you increase the damage you deal and reduce the amount you take.

Such modern conveniences would have been scoffed at in the arcade era. But if Absolum's keen to ensure everyone gets to the end, it doesn't make its fights any less intense or satisfyingly crunchy, nor does it lessen the thrill of riding a flame-shooting skull into battle or freeing a caged thief to fight beside you. For Guard Crush, it's an upgrade, too. Streets of Rage 4's dewy-eyed '90s homage may have been effective enough to have you urgently rummaging in your pockets at the continue screen. But this? This feels like it belongs firmly in 2025 – and it's good enough to have you wondering what other bygone genres would benefit from similarly thoughtful, lavish treatment.

Dive into more runs with our best roguelike games list!